


The King, The Queen and The Key

by TheNightWatcher



Category: End Roll (Video Game), OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Crossover, Developing Friendships, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Post-Canon End Roll, Pre-Canon Omori, Self-Harm, Spoilers, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:28:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightWatcher/pseuds/TheNightWatcher
Summary: Lost in Black Space, Flower Boy makes a friend with an abominable monster whose origins come from the unknown.
Relationships: Informant (End Roll) & Dream Basil (OMORI), Informant (End Roll)/Dream!Basil (OMORI), Omori/Dream!Basil (OMORI)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	The King, The Queen and The Key

**Author's Note:**

> Tossing some of my headcanons of Informant into this story. Ha.

At first, _It_ was nothing.

A mysterious presence amongst the others. The nothing that shouldn't be present. Wandering, mindless, bumping into other beings similar to itself but not quite. Never the exact match. Never a familiar existence. To search and search, it did. For what, _It_ did not know. Nothing mattered, and perhaps it did not matter, because _It_ was nothing at all among the mass of darkness, along with the passing clustered-together creatures.

And then, there was a call, and _It_ became _something_ once again.

It can smell flowers.

Strange. _It_ does not recall the memory of ever interacting with such trivial things. Yet.

Flowers.

Sweet-scented. A smell once detected in a blurry town with colorful vegetables.

Curiosity is a scratchy tryst. The running shot of muted emotion runs through like a drop of water out of a rusted faucet. The droplet is very little, but it's enough.

_It_ moves.

Passing the darkness, past the discorded and muted groans of creatures from beyond, it continues to follow after the trail of flower petals and the wafting smell of sweets from wondrous florets.

The darkness is endless. There are many doors. Lots of influences peering in puzzlement over the shoving.

No matter.

_It_ finds the source of the flower matter in a hollow space with nothing but a void and blurry images of a forgotten loss.

A crown of flowers sits upon their head. A _King_ , it muses. A King so _far_ out here?

"O-Oh," The one bathed in lush-green, the color of rebirth and renewal, stares up at _It_ with wide eyes. "Are you...With them?" He quivers the question but does not run. "Have you come to kill me? I think that happens a lot. I don't have a good memory of it, but I know it happens." Mint green hues, similar to tea leaves seem to glint. "Every hour I spend here, I remember. Isn't that strange?"

This King clearly hasn't spoken to anyone coherent in some time. How strange, but perhaps not completely uncommon.

"Please...Please answer me." The King trembles, fists digging at his sides. "I'm...I'm scared. I hate it here. It's dark. It's _scary_ , and I want my friends." He smiles, mouth wobbly. "And you know? You're scary too. You have so many eyes, it's terrifying." A soft laugh leaves the King's lips. "I wish someone could help me. I wish I wasn't so-"

_It_ cannot speak the language the King speaks, but it can imitate.

" _I could help."_ It says, copying and spewing words together. Echoing another isn't too much trouble.

"What?" The King blinks as if he couldn't believe it. His minty eyes are wide and sluggish in function.

" _I could help,"_ It promises, and peels away its durable skin like a rotted orange.

It does not hear the sharp intake of breath from the King. Does not register the blast of colors attacking each and every eye which swells and bursts upon shedding. _It_ regains memories, gathers thoughts from a time once lost long ago. Memories of what _He_ was, _what_ he was, and why everything else avoided him like the plague.

It all makes sense. It's because he never belonged here or there, after all.

A blond boy with verdant emerald eyes of envy smiles.

"Well, Your Majesty," He extends a hand, foot curved as a respectful bow is given toward an important piece of this luscious dream. "Shall we go?"

Perhaps it shouldn't be so amusing to see the red spread across the King's face. It still is.

"Where…?" The King murmurs, but the awe hasn't faded from mint eyes. His fingers are hesitant when reaching back, but _He_ leaves no issue in gently clasping the King's hand in reply.

"Wherever you'd like." Short. Honest.

"A...A safe place please." The King whispers.

"Very well." An easy request.

"Wha...What's your name? I'm sorry for calling you scary. My name is Basil." As if introductions were appropriate when there were several hostile dream beings all around them.

Invisible. Waiting. Wanting.

There's a pause, gently pulling Basil to the side of the darkness. "I am known as Informant." But, he preferred to be polite.

"Isn't that a title," Basil shuts up when Informant pulls the other dream resident close, as if in a private ballet dance. "What?" The boy in the flower-crown sputters.

"Apologies. You were talking too much." Informant hums, observing how Basil blinked very fast in silent reply. "Think of an important place you would like to go. I will lead you to the safer destination you desire." For the King is a powerful being. A powerful piece. The type who can go anywhere, everywhere, and still end up with an irreplaceable role.

"Oh. Oh! I got it. Let me try." Basil's eyes flutter as he seems to fall into a trance of peace.

Informant mildly huffs, grin twitching from amusement as he silently leads the boy with a flower crown into the dark.

What a trusting individual. A shame, truly, but perhaps this is why Informant had ended up in a place such as _this._

Grass sprouts from under their feet. The ticklish brush of grass-strands proves the process as Informant continues to lead. The litter of color continues to spread, growing at an incredible pace as a separate space in the void opens, and shuts the moment they step through.

The black void disappears, and Informant along with his current companion is greeted by a field of grass and flowers. The sky is colorful ink splashes of sunset roses, oranges, and pinks.

"Wow," Basil draws in a deep breath, pulling away from Informant to peer closer at the freshly grown nature. "Where _is_ this place? How did you do that? It's very pretty." In a flurry of kicked feet, he kneels to inspect a newly grown sunflower.

"I didn't do anything." Informant admits, squinting as the other continues to admire the scenery. "This is merely your domain, Your Majesty."

There's a choke, and Informant observes as Basil tugs at his head.

" _Why_ are you calling me that?" Basil whines, and Informant peers over with a raised eyebrow. "If you keep smiling like that, I'll think you're making fun of me! That's no good, Informant. You can't make friends that way." He scolds as if he knows better despite being a cowering child not too long ago.

Haha. How ironic is it to hear those words directed at something like him?

"I always smile, Your Majesty." Although, Informant was _now_ purposeful in taunting Basil this time. He was rewarded with another sputter and a drawn, 'Stooop!' "In all seriousness, however, I call you that because you represent a King's Piece." There was no hiding it. "Since you were the one to...Snap me out of my daze, I have no reason to lie." Not that Informant _could_ fib.

Even he, an outside anomaly, has respect for those with great influence in dreams like this.

"I don't understand," Basil mumbles, just aloud for Informant to catch. He blankly stares ahead, further into the field of grass and florets. There's a glitter of ruby on the edges of mints, too smothered to properly brew. "Oh! Follow me, Info! I think I see somewhere we could rest!" Basil chirps and rushes into the greens.

_Ah,_ Informant follows without a word, hand clasped on a wrist behind his back. _He is only just barely Aware._

And a King's Piece shouldn't be in such a state. How did _that_ happen?

Informant would have to fix the King, wouldn't he?

By the time Informant catches up with Basil, the boy with the flower crown is seated on a checkered picnic blanket. He's eagerly patting a spot nearby, mint eyes shining.

Informant takes a seat on the opposite side of the picnic sheet. His smile gains an edge of apology as the King seems to deflate.

Basil perks up two seconds later, likely resilient. "I have questions, Info."

_As do I,_ Informant continues to smile. "Yes, carry on. I may answer to the best of my ability…"

Basil nods slowly, flower crown petals shifting.

"...For a price." Informant finishes expression the same even as Basil jolts. "Do not fret. This is a normal exchange, Your Majesty. I simply do not give information for free. You understand the Give and Take process, yes?" Informant stares at the sunflowers behind the one wearing a colorful crown of florets.

"O-Oh, yes, of course." Basil bobs his head once, twice. "I guess that makes sense, Info. I'll do my best!"

Informant nearly lists his terms for the other to stop calling him by that predictable shortening of his name, but he isn't _that_ shortsighted of his resources.

"So um, where did you come from?" Basil averts his gaze. "I was _sure_ you were one of them. Sorry, you had to see me like that, but, after you finally showed yourself, I realized you were actually someone much different." He shifts, sitting up straight. "I was venting, I think. That still wasn't very nice of me to lash out like that." Basil's shoulders slump. "I'm sorry. Am I still allowed to ask? Where are you from?"

Excellent choice of manners but still predictable. Informant ponders if the other was a push-over. Likely, due to the lack of much-needed knowledge.

"Far away." Informant says, placid. "Ah, but I wouldn't want to bore you," He hums, taking a glance at the colorful hues of a fabricated sky.

"No way!" Basil disrupts with a quick shake of his head. "Tell me! Well. If you want. I don't want to push you. I haven't been the nicest, and to make all these demands, haha." Basil slumps. "Again, sorry about that." He murmurs.

Informant chuckles, "If you insist."

Basil smiled back, and Informant took a second to gain his thoughts.

And so, he spins a tale of a town without a name. The residents colorful as their personalities, and the many adventures and troubles they seemed to get into. The newest resident, an emotionless boy who was swiftly accepted as one of their own in a matter of hours. Together, they fought off a great evil by the edge of their world.

Basil's eyes seem to glitter under the many hues of a sunset palette. "Your home sounds very nice. The newest town member sounds like Omori!" Basil laughs, light and delighted. "Then, are you going to go back?"

Informant pauses, watching, emerald envy unblinking.

Basil's crown is a beautiful lush. Informant can smell rot, but he knows his observation is merely an illusion of choice.

Dreams do not only play with the dreamer, to an extent, it can and will fool anyone.

His smile widens.

"Perhaps," Informant finally says. "Perhaps when I finish up here."

Basil stills. "Oh. Yeah. I was asking for help." He muses aloud, in a clouded daze.

Informant shuts his eyes in patience. "Tell me about this 'Omori' you speak of."

Basil brightens back to life without a hesitations notice.

A better topic. Less forbidden, it seems.

"So Omori is my best friend! He's really quiet, but he's," Basil began to ramble. He had many memories to recount, as friends do, and the words move so fast, the flowers nearby seem to bob to the King's happy tune.

Informant tunes most of Basil's words into white noise. He's an information gatherer, so simply taking the crucial figures from the speech is sufficient enough.

Omori. There are many translations for that name.

'Burden' is one of them. The other...Informant will not consider that possibility. There's no reason to do so.

Burden. Dreamers most often carry those. They create the world they desire and can hide away for several hours in the fabrication of their mind. A key to their reality.

Perhaps 'Omori' was the dreamer?

"Your Majesty," Informant says, stern, and allows his vision to reopen. "I have a tricky request for you."

_This._ This Might be messy. Hopefully not, Informant doesn't quite want to _ruin_ this newfound experience of someone who doesn't hate him on sight. Alas, he had taken a request, and Informant intends to follow through.

"Please stop calling me that." Basil exhales before nodding firmly. "What is it? I'm sure I can help you, as you've done for me!"

_Ah,_ Informant's hand twitches for a drink.

"When was the last time you died?"

Basil blinks, smile falling flat. "I'm sorry?" He repeats, fingers curling into the picnic blanket.

"Death," Informant muses, unblinking as the minty greens in front of him seem to twitch. "Has an odd way of finding us. Here. There." He twirls a finger. "It follows even into realms such as this because the creators had thought of it as an enemy." Informant smile grows. "And enemies are to be found everywhere, and anywhere. No exceptions. Even creatures like us can perish."

Informant does not move closer. He does not create any quick movements.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Informant. I don't know what you're saying." Basil scoots away regardless of the fact the two were quite a distance away on sheets. "Realm? Creatures? Haha, your way with words is a bit funny. No offense." Basil's sheepish twinkle is one of apology.

Informant continues to smile.

"U-Um, Informant?" Basil's body language is oddly frigid.

"No longer referring to me as 'Info'?" Informant sweetly chips in, peering away to observe the sunflowers. "So you _do_ have an inkling of what I'm saying. How curious." He murmurs, innocently accusing.

"Just," Basil says, a hint of quivering on his lips. "I just think something feels off, is all."

Informant nods along, staring back into mint-green eyes. "Do tell."

"I don't know _how_." Basil viciously rasps, "I don't know how to explain this to a _stranger,_ I'm sorry, Informant. I know it's rude. I'm being selfish. But I seriously don't know." Hands tremble as his arms raise to clench at the hair bobbing by his ears. "It's like an invisible beacon. First, I'm home, and suddenly I keep looking for something _that may not even exist,"_ Basil laughs, shaky. "And my friends are seemingly okay with this? I don't get it either!"

Informant patiently taps a finger on his wrist.

"I usually go back but _now,_ " Basil gestures to the field. "Now I'm here. I don't know how to get back." He shivers, forcing his gaze on the checkered blanket. "Informant, why can't I get back?" Basil pleads, head low.

"Your Majesty," Informant murmurs, placid.

"Stop _calling_ me that!" Basil shrieks, mint-hues bleeding into a truthful red.

With a hand to his non-existent heart, Informant locks eyes with the King. "Very well, Basil," He assembles on. "Allow me to remove the block on your memory." Reaching into his pocket, Informant pulled out a singular glass cup.

"Block, what block?" Basil eyes the tiny glass, scarlets still dominant. "I didn't know you could do magic tricks."

Informant nods. "I suppose. Although this next part may be a little uncomfortable. I apologize in advance." Truly and sincerely.

Informant hardly listens to Basil's gasp upon summoning his knife. He promptly slides the blade into his arm with a swift slice.

"Info! What," Basil scrambles forward and Informant blinks as the King grabs his injured arm. The touch was gentle but firm, preventing Informant from moving further. "Why would you do that?!" Scarlet eyes fall on the wound. "Why," Basil stiffens. "W-Why is your blood that color? Are you sick?" His worries are like bells and the notes ring in wavering notes akin to sunshine. "Oh no, we don't have any bandages! What do we do? Maybe if I rip off a sleeve…"

Informant cannot say he properly understands Basil's thought process.

He stares at Basil, who seems too focused on the odd liquid running down his black sleeve. The King's eyes are still a glaring red, but tiny tints of mint were sluggishly crawling back.

Informant briefly forgets the glass cup and tackles the Foolish King.

Why _did_ Basil get so close? To dirty his hand out of curiosity? No matter. Disregarding the fearful red eyes peering up at him, Informant forces the blood down the King's throat.

There's no resistance aside from Basil scratching desperately at Informant's wrists.

Informant assumes the process would certainly be painful, but there shouldn't be any lasting effects aside from the burden of knowledge.

Informant releases his hold and retreats when Basil finally falls limp. The other boy almost looks deceased.

That's a joke.

"Why...Why would you do that? Informant…" Basil's raspy whisper is a choked cry, the raw hurt bleeds into his gurgled words.

"Why? Well. You wanted answers, correct?" Informant raises an eyebrow. "I removed whoever put 'Caution-Tape' on your role." Lifting a hand, he pushed a bit of magic to heal the wound on his arm. "It must've been an unpleasant cleanse, for that, I apologize." It had to be done, but Informant can express sympathy.

"What are you talking about," Basil murmurs, scarlet eyes hazy. He clearly doesn't have enough energy to sit up nor keep proper balance.

"What I mean," Informant hums, watching the sunflowers wilt under a fake breeze. The field begins to fall sickly and yellow. "Is you've been cursed to a cruel fate." He watches the splashes of color in the sky of a temporary peace turn gloomy and monochrome. "You were previously _Aware,_ but never quite fully there. Now you know, and will remember," Informant peers back down, observing how Basil grasps at the blanket.

The fabric turns to ash under the King's fingers.

"This realm is a dream, and you're an important figure in this rigged game of theirs." Informant observes how the boy in green curls into himself. How the King begins to tremble with shaking rubies for eyes. "How many times you've repeated a similar scene, I wonder. To wander the dark, and have your memory erased over and over in the most pitiful ways."

Basil wheezes, hyperventilates, and Informant gently taps two fingers on the King's arm.

"Do not fret. You're a very lucky boy, Basil. I can help you."

For a price.

* * *

Informant stares past the creatures hidden in this seemingly endless void; stares at the many doors before him. This odd space tickles at the back of his neck, occasionally pulls on the heels of his brown shoes. He is stronger than the forces present. Far more lucid than these lowly creatures will ever be.

"For the record," Informant says, civil, forever smiling as he leads the King forward. "This is an absolutely terrible idea."

Basil, scarlet eyes and all, gave him a sheepish smile. "Really? I don't think it's a bad plan."

Informant crushes a meaningless threat under his shoe. The King will not know of the dangers all around them, those with watching eyes and the hidden creatures looking for a snack. Informant hums aloud, emeralds forward on the 'prize' direction. "So you say? Well, I'll tell you the truth then." Perhaps only Informant himself can see the many abnormalities wanting to devour the King's very being and core. "It's idiotic. Absolutely reckless. Honestly, I cannot fandom your reason."

Another tug. Informant only has to flex his free hand, and another far too curious _Creature_ retreats further into the deep space.

Fools.

"It just means he's scared, Info. I don't blame him. Not one bit." Basil gently tells.

Informant would've stumbled in step if he were as reckless as most fools. "You told me this ' _Best Friend'_ of yours, is the likely culprit for resetting this dream, time and time again." Informant squints, forcing an avoidance of a door he didn't like the atmosphere from. "The same person who consistently trapped you in this place."

The walk is quiet between the two, Informant tastes overly sweet pollen off the air.

"Yes?" Basil says as if waiting for further interrogation.

"He's killed you multiple times over the course of several months to a year, yet there's not a hint of hate in your veins?" Informant thinks of petty envy. Thinks of resentment and solemn acceptance. The horrid taste of pity, and the overwhelming waves of revulsion for the cruel.

"Well, we don't have any veins…" Basil murmurs.

Informant almost snorts. "Ah-ha? Don't be smart with me."

Basil smiles, bold reds for eyes and all. "I don't hate him."

Informant is a creature who can tell a truth from a lie. He doesn't turn his head, doesn't click his tongue.

Emerald hues blink very slowly. The deep void feels just a tad fuzzy. His fingers prickle. A nonexistent core twitches and Informant himself desires a glass of orange juice.

"...I see."

Basil is sincere.

Sincere as the tears Basil cried when the truth burrowed back into him.

Informant cannot believe the King regardless. He refused. And so, Informant will agree to disagree. A silent form of respect done for someone who hasn't quite given up.

Basil ceases movement. Informant easily catches in step,

"I think…" Basil murmurs, pace unsteady. "That's the door."

Informant peers left, then right. The door in front of them blends in with the many others previously passed. "Are you certain?" Informant doesn't look away from the towering barrier.

"What are you saying?" Basil chides, voice soft. "Don't you see the red light?"

The only colors of scarlet were the King's intense gaze.

Informant's smile widens. "Of course. I was merely testing you. Shall we enter then?" He bows ever-so-slightly because when everything comes down to it, the only other person who could open this door is the King Piece.

The one who seeks their own justice.

"...Okay." Basil agrees, scarlet eyes blinking in trusting glitters. "Okay."

Informant steps back, allows Basil to open the door himself.

"That's weird...It never opened for me before." Basil says, with a faint squint of his eerie reds before twisting the knob further.

With a creak, the door reveals a world of flurry white. Cold air brushes past them with a trickle of several snowflakes from a snowy setting.

Informant halts even as Basil steps forward, detecting faint whispers of transparent others speaking their minds.

He cannot hear them, voices far too low, much too muffled. Their words are short and hurried. Rushed and worried. Informant cannot put together their mushed feelings. The many sentences pushed into a few phrases. Emerald greens peer around the dark void until he finds a stand-out amongst the rest.

Two pits of white stare at him. A person, shadow body cloaked by the surrounding darkness.

Informant stares back.

"Info?" Basil calls, and Informant shuts his ears away and joins the King's side.

The door shuts and vanishes.

"I'm alright." Informant observes the grey sky, the falling snow, and the stairs up ahead. "Do you like snow, Basil?" Each step is a little difficult. Snow is hard to move in without the proper gear and Informant was a Stay-At-Home resident.

"It's uh...Pretty to look at." Basil looks to the pit of darkness by the edges of the snowy biome. "Evergreens survive winters so I get to see how they look with a pile of white."

Informant nods at the plant fact, tugging at his sleeves.

"Oh no! Are you cold?" Basil raises his arms but freezes, fingers twitching. His scarlet eyes clash with the environment but the raw worry is enough for Informant to respond to such ridiculousness.

"You're the one with the short-sleeved shirt," Informant takes the time to note the lingering statues. Religious factors play a part in this dreamworld, Informant can assume. "This is mere weather. We cannot freeze to death. _I_ personally cannot, anyways." To prevent hands from stiffening up, pockets were on his shorts for a reason.

"Oh," Basil murmurs. "Okay, but let's get somewhere warm, alright?"

Informant decides rolling his eyes is too cruel for someone who only wants to help. He nods, allowing Basil to take the lead with instincts.

"By the way...You're wrong." Basil tells him as they walk.

The snow is deep. Neither creates comments about how difficult it is to move around like this.

"I'm wrong?" Informant hums, strolling along just behind the Flower Boy.

"Yes." Basil huffs. "Omori...Or _Sunny_ , sorry," He cleared his throat. "They would save me sometimes. I didn't die here _too_ much." Basil provides several instances regardless of the radio silence given. "I don't think they mean to do it. And that's okay." A soft smile breaks across his lips, ruby eyes hazed.

_Is that your best excuse for him?_ Informant visibly doesn't react.

"I understand." No, he doesn't.

The wind whistles irony.

"Omori...Sunny...They're still my best friend." Basil continues on.

Informant stops walking. Two sets of footsteps remain.

"That's why," Basil murmurs, shy but resolute.

Another whistle of cut-air runs forth but it's not the wind. A pocket watch flies out of a tightened grasp. Informant stills; stuck staring at the newly painted snow of melted black. He refuses to fall, jaded emeralds leering at a somewhat distant figure who's taking their sweet time catching up.

Or, in more accurate terms, hunting them down.

"I just want to…"

Red hands. Used on command too, it seems. Informant chuckles, raspy with the pain. _Is that what the dreamer's trauma is linked to?_ How odd. How strange!

"Informant?" Basil turns, pupils dilating upon seeing the _hand_ sticking out of Informant's chest. The red hand had torn through him but not cleanly. The flower boy trembles, eyes following to a walking figure nearby.

Recognition. Just not fast enough.

"Get _down_ , you _Fool."_ Informant sneers, red vest terribly stained with black blood.

Informant slams the King to the ground right on time. He's not left to ponder with any other further thoughts.

Pain lashes across his senses like fire. Informant isn't left with time to choke as senses dull.

Informant's head of golden hair hits the snow. He could dimly hear his decapitated body collapse seconds later.

Everything falls into darkness.

Like his creation. Like where he came from.

From dimness to darkness, Informant's eyelids are forced to waver in strength.

To a scene of a shock-still flower boy, and another boy with a name of many meanings.

Palette in black and white, the newcomer stares Informant down as emerald greens finally shut.

Burden, in one language.

_Guardian,_ in another.

Omori.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having a very stressful week but I really wanted to post what I had so far. I hope you enjoyed the character interactions! More is likely to come!
> 
> Nightmare! Informant has always been a headcanon of mine. Since you know, he could very much see if Russell (Main Character in End Roll) had a high guilt count or not. Back to the roots, I'll say!
> 
> Nightmares and Somethings are pretty fricking similar...Huh.


End file.
